Caterpillar Reports Third-Quarter 2024 Results

PRNewswire 30-Oct-2024 6:30 AM

• Third-quarter 2024 profit per share of $5.06; adjusted profit per share of $5.17
• Enterprise operating cash flow was $3.6 billion in the third quarter of 2024
• Deployed $1.5 billion of cash for share repurchases and dividends in the third quarter

IRVING, Texas, Oct. 30, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) announced third-quarter 2024 results. Sales and revenues for the third quarter of 2024 were $16.1 billion, a 4% decrease compared with $16.8 billion in the third quarter of 2023. The decrease was primarily due to lower sales volume.

Operating profit margin was 19.5% for the third quarter of 2024, compared with 20.5% for the third quarter of 2023. Adjusted operating profit margin was 20.0% for the third quarter of 2024, compared with 20.8% for the third quarter of 2023. Third-quarter 2024 profit per share was $5.06, compared with third-quarter 2023 profit per share of $5.45. Adjusted profit per share in the third quarter of 2024 was $5.17, compared with third-quarter 2023 adjusted profit per share of $5.52. For the third quarter of 2024 and 2023, adjusted operating profit margin and adjusted profit per share excluded restructuring costs.

For the third quarter of 2024, enterprise operating cash flow was $3.6 billion, and the company ended the third quarter with $5.6 billion of enterprise cash. In the quarter, the company deployed $0.8 billion of cash for repurchases of Caterpillar common stock and $0.7 billion of cash for dividends.

"I'd like to thank our global team for delivering strong adjusted operating profit margin and adjusted profit per share while generating robust ME&T free cash flow," said Chairman and CEO Jim Umpleby. "Our third-quarter results reflect the benefit of the diversity of our end markets."

CONSOLIDATED RESULTS

Consolidated Sales and Revenues

Consolidated Sales and Revenues Comparison
Third Quarter 2024 vs. Third Quarter 2023

To access this chart, go to http://www.caterpillar.com/en/investors/quarterly-results.html for the downloadable version of Caterpillar third-quarter 2024 earnings. 

The chart above graphically illustrates reasons for the change in consolidated sales and revenues between the third quarter of 2023 (at left) and the third quarter of 2024 (at right). Caterpillar management utilizes these charts internally to visually communicate with the company's board of directors and employees.

Total sales and revenues for the third quarter of 2024 were $16.106 billion, a decrease of $704 million, or 4%, compared with $16.810 billion in the third quarter of 2023. The decrease was primarily due to lower sales volume of $759 million. The decrease in sales volume was mainly driven by lower sales of equipment to end users. In addition, changes in dealer inventories had an unfavorable impact to sales volume. Dealer inventory increased less during the third quarter of 2024 than during the third quarter of 2023.

In the three primary segments, sales were lower in Construction Industries and Resource Industries and higher in Energy & Transportation.

Consolidated Operating Profit

Consolidated Operating Profit Comparison
Third Quarter 2024 vs. Third Quarter 2023 

To access this chart, go to http://www.caterpillar.com/en/investors/quarterly-results.html for the downloadable version of Caterpillar third-quarter 2024 earnings. 

The chart above graphically illustrates reasons for the change in consolidated operating profit between the third quarter of 2023 (at left) and the third quarter of 2024 (at right). Caterpillar management utilizes these charts internally to visually communicate with the company's board of directors and employees. The bar titled Other includes consolidating adjustments and Machinery, Energy & Transportation's other operating (income) expenses.

Operating profit for the third quarter of 2024 was $3.147 billion, a decrease of $302 million, or 9%, compared with $3.449 billion in the third quarter of 2023. The decrease was mainly due to the profit impact of lower sales volume of $372 million, partially offset by favorable price realization of $104 million.

Other Profit/Loss and Tax Items

• Other income (expense) in the third quarter of 2024 was income of $76 million, compared with income of $195 million in the third quarter of 2023. The change was primarily driven by unfavorable foreign currency impacts.
  
  
• The effective tax rate for the third quarter of 2024 was 20.7% compared to 20.9% for the third quarter of 2023. Excluding the discrete items discussed below, the estimated annual tax rate was 22.5% for the third quarters of 2024 and 2023.
  
  In the third quarter of 2024, the company recorded discrete tax benefits of $47 million to reflect changes in estimates related to prior years. In addition, a discrete tax benefit of $7 million was recorded in the third quarter of 2024, compared with a $22 million benefit in the third quarter of 2023, for the settlement of stock-based compensation awards with associated tax deductions in excess of cumulative U.S. GAAP compensation expense. The company also recorded a $34 million benefit in the third quarter of 2023 due to a decrease from the second-quarter estimated annual tax rate. 
  
  Please see a reconciliation of GAAP to non-GAAP financial measures in the appendix on pages 13 and 14.

Construction Industries' total sales were $6.345 billion in the third quarter of 2024, a decrease of $654 million, or 9%, compared with $6.999 billion in the third quarter of 2023. The decrease was primarily due to lower sales volume of $458 million and unfavorable price realization of $147 million. The decrease in sales volume was mainly driven by lower sales of equipment to end users.

• In North America, sales decreased primarily due to lower sales volume. Lower sales volume was mainly driven by lower sales of equipment to end users and the impact from changes in dealer inventories. Dealer inventory increased less during the third quarter of 2024 than during the third quarter of 2023.
• Sales increased in Latin America mainly due to higher sales volume, partially offset by unfavorable currency impacts, primarily related to the Brazilian real, and unfavorable price realization. Higher sales volume was mainly driven by the impact from changes in dealer inventories. Dealer inventory increased during the third quarter of 2024, compared with a decrease during the third quarter of 2023.
• In EAME, sales decreased primarily due to lower sales volume. Lower sales volume was mainly driven by lower sales of equipment to end users.
• Sales decreased in Asia/Pacific mainly due to lower sales volume and unfavorable currency impacts primarily related to the Japanese yen. Lower sales volume was mainly driven by the impact from changes in dealer inventories. Dealer inventory decreased during the third quarter of 2024, compared with an increase during the third quarter of 2023.

Construction Industries' segment profit was $1.486 billion in the third quarter of 2024, a decrease of $361 million, or 20%, compared with $1.847 billion in the third quarter of 2023. The decrease was mainly due to the profit impact of lower sales volume of $276 million and unfavorable price realization of $147 million.

Resource Industries' total sales were $3.028 billion in the third quarter of 2024, a decrease of $323 million, or 10%, compared with $3.351 billion in the third quarter of 2023. The decrease was primarily due to lower sales volume. The decrease in sales volume was mainly driven by lower sales of equipment to end users.

Resource Industries' segment profit was $619 million in the third quarter of 2024, a decrease of $111 million, or 15%, compared with $730 million in the third quarter of 2023. The decrease was mainly due to the profit impact of lower sales volume.

Energy & Transportation's total sales were $7.187 billion in the third quarter of 2024, an increase of $328 million, or 5%, compared with $6.859 billion in the third quarter of 2023. The increase in sales was primarily due to favorable price realization of $213 million and higher sales volume of $135 million, including inter-segment sales.

• Oil and Gas – Sales decreased slightly as lower sales of reciprocating engines used in well servicing were primarily offset by higher sales for turbines and turbine-related services.
• Power Generation – Sales increased in large reciprocating engines, primarily data center applications. Turbines and turbine-related services increased as well.
• Industrial – Sales decreased in EAME and North America.
• Transportation – Sales increased in marine applications, partially offset by lower deliveries of international locomotives.

Energy & Transportation's segment profit was $1.433 billion in the third quarter of 2024, an increase of $252 million, or 21%, compared with $1.181 billion in the third quarter of 2023. The increase was mainly due to favorable price realization.

Financial Products' segment revenues were $1.034 billion in the third quarter of 2024, an increase of $55 million, or 6%, compared with $979 million in the third quarter of 2023. The increase was primarily due to a favorable impact from higher average earning assets of $34 million driven by North America, and a favorable impact from higher average financing rates across all regions of $23 million.

Financial Products' segment profit was $246 million in the third quarter of 2024, an increase of $43 million, or 21%, compared with $203 million in the third quarter of 2023. The increase was mainly due to a favorable impact from equity securities of $29 million and lower provision for credit losses at Cat Financial of $16 million.

At the end of the third quarter of 2024, past dues at Cat Financial were 1.74%, compared with 1.96% at the end of the third quarter of 2023. Write-offs, net of recoveries, were $27 million for the third quarter of 2024, compared with $9 million for the third quarter of 2023. As of September 30, 2024, Cat Financial's allowance for credit losses totaled $255 million, or 0.87% of finance receivables, compared with $254 million, or 0.89% of finance receivables at June 30, 2024. The allowance for credit losses at year-end 2023 was $331 million, or 1.18% of finance receivables.

Corporate Items and Eliminations

Expense for corporate items and eliminations was $457 million in the third quarter of 2024, an increase of $89 million from the third quarter of 2023. Lower corporate costs were more than offset by an unfavorable change in fair value adjustments related to deferred compensation plans, increased expenses due to timing differences, unfavorable impacts of segment reporting methodology differences and higher restructuring costs.

Notes

i.  Glossary of terms is included on the Caterpillar website at https://investors.caterpillar.com/overview/default.aspx.
ii.  Sales of equipment to end users is demonstrated by the company's Rolling 3 Month Retail Sales Statistics filed in a Form 8-K on Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024.
iii.  Information on non-GAAP financial measures is included in the appendix on pages 13 and 14.
iv.  Some amounts within this report are rounded to the millions or billions and may not add.
v.  Caterpillar will conduct a teleconference and live webcast, with a slide presentation, beginning at 7:30 a.m. Central Time on Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024, to discuss its 2024 third-quarter results. The accompanying slides will be available before the webcast on the Caterpillar website at https://investors.caterpillar.com/events-presentations/default.aspx.

About Caterpillar

With 2023 sales and revenues of $67.1 billion, Caterpillar Inc. is the world's leading manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, off-highway diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines and diesel-electric locomotives. For nearly 100 years, we've been helping customers build a better, more sustainable world and are committed and contributing to a reduced-carbon future. Our innovative products and services, backed by our global dealer network, provide exceptional value that helps customers succeed. Caterpillar does business on every continent, principally operating through three primary segments – Construction Industries, Resource Industries and Energy & Transportation – and providing financing and related services through our Financial Products segment. Visit us at caterpillar.com or join the conversation on our social media channels at caterpillar.com/en/news/social-media.html.

Caterpillar's latest financial results are also available online:

https://investors.caterpillar.com/overview/default.aspx

https://investors.caterpillar.com/financials/quarterly-results/default.aspx (live broadcast/replays of quarterly conference call)

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements in this press release relate to future events and expectations and are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as "believe," "estimate," "will be," "will," "would," "expect," "anticipate," "plan," "forecast," "target," "guide," "project," "intend," "could," "should" or other similar words or expressions often identify forward-looking statements. All statements other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, statements regarding our outlook, projections, forecasts or trend descriptions. These statements do not guarantee future performance and speak only as of the date they are made, and we do not undertake to update our forward-looking statements.

Caterpillar's actual results may differ materially from those described or implied in our forward-looking statements based on a number of factors, including, but not limited to: (i) global and regional economic conditions and economic conditions in the industries we serve; (ii) commodity price changes, material price increases, fluctuations in demand for our products or significant shortages of material; (iii) government monetary or fiscal policies; (iv) political and economic risks, commercial instability and events beyond our control in the countries in which we operate; (v) international trade policies and their impact on demand for our products and our competitive position, including the imposition of new tariffs or changes in existing tariff rates; (vi) our ability to develop, produce and market quality products that meet our customers' needs; (vii) the impact of the highly competitive environment in which we operate on our sales and pricing; (viii) information technology security threats and computer crime; (ix) inventory management decisions and sourcing practices of our dealers and our OEM customers; (x) a failure to realize, or a delay in realizing, all of the anticipated benefits of our acquisitions, joint ventures or divestitures; (xi) union disputes or other employee relations issues; (xii) adverse effects of unexpected events; (xiii) disruptions or volatility in global financial markets limiting our sources of liquidity or the liquidity of our customers, dealers and suppliers; (xiv) failure to maintain our credit ratings and potential resulting increases to our cost of borrowing and adverse effects on our cost of funds, liquidity, competitive position and access to capital markets; (xv) our Financial Products segment's risks associated with the financial services industry; (xvi) changes in interest rates or market liquidity conditions; (xvii) an increase in delinquencies, repossessions or net losses of Cat Financial's customers; (xviii) currency fluctuations; (xix) our or Cat Financial's compliance with financial and other restrictive covenants in debt agreements; (xx) increased pension plan funding obligations; (xxi) alleged or actual violations of trade or anti-corruption laws and regulations; (xxii) additional tax expense or exposure, including the impact of U.S. tax reform; (xxiii) significant legal proceedings, claims, lawsuits or government investigations; (xxiv) new regulations or changes in financial services regulations; (xxv) compliance with environmental laws and regulations; (xxvi) catastrophic events, including global pandemics such as the COVID-19 pandemic; and (xxvii) other factors described in more detail in Caterpillar's Forms 10-Q, 10-K and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

APPENDIX

NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES

The following definitions are provided for the non-GAAP financial measures. These non-GAAP financial measures have no standardized meaning prescribed by U.S. GAAP and therefore are unlikely to be comparable to the calculation of similar measures for other companies. Management does not intend these items to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for the related GAAP measures.

The company believes it is important to separately quantify the profit impact of one significant item in order for the company's results to be meaningful to readers. This item consists of (i) restructuring income/costs. The company does not consider this item indicative of earnings from ongoing business activities and believes the non-GAAP measure provides investors with useful perspective on underlying business results and trends and aids with assessing the company's period-over-period results. The company intends to discuss adjusted profit per share for the fourth quarter and full-year 2024, excluding mark-to-market gains or losses for remeasurement of pension and other postemployment benefit plans.

Reconciliations of adjusted results to the most directly comparable GAAP measure are as follows:

The company believes it is important to separately disclose the annual effective tax rate, excluding discrete items for the results to be meaningful to readers. The annual effective tax rate is discussed using non-GAAP financial measures that exclude the effects of amounts associated with discrete items recorded fully in the quarter they occur. For the three months ended September 30, 2024, and 2023, these items consist of (i) the impact of changes in estimates related to prior years in 2024, (ii) settlement of stock-based compensation awards with associated tax deductions in excess of cumulative U.S. GAAP compensation expense and (iii) the decrease in the annual effective tax rate in 2023. The company believes the non-GAAP measures will provide investors with useful perspective on underlying business results and trends and aids with assessing the company's period-over-period results.

A reconciliation of the effective tax rate to annual effective tax rate, excluding discrete items is below: 

Supplemental Consolidating Data

The company is providing supplemental consolidating data for the purpose of additional analysis. The data has been grouped as follows:

Consolidated – Caterpillar Inc. and its subsidiaries.

Machinery, Energy & Transportation (ME&T) – The company defines ME&T as it is presented in the supplemental data as Caterpillar Inc. and its subsidiaries, excluding Financial Products. ME&T's information relates to the design, manufacturing and marketing of its products.

Financial Products – The company defines Financial Products as it is presented in the supplemental data as its finance and insurance subsidiaries, primarily Caterpillar Financial Services Corporation (Cat Financial) and Caterpillar Insurance Holdings Inc. (Insurance Services). Financial Products' information relates to the financing to customers and dealers for the purchase and lease of Caterpillar and other equipment.

Consolidating Adjustments – Eliminations of transactions between ME&T and Financial Products.

The nature of the ME&T and Financial Products businesses is different, especially with regard to the financial position and cash flow items. Caterpillar management utilizes this presentation internally to highlight these differences. The company believes this presentation will assist readers in understanding its business.

Pages 16 to 26 reconcile ME&T and Financial Products to Caterpillar Inc. consolidated financial information.